As you may well know, we’ve released a couple of youth work resources this year – How To Plan A Youth Retreat and 52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas.
The thing is, how do you know if they’re any good? We obviously think they are, but are they really any good? To help you out, here are some genuine reviews that we’ve received:
How To Plan A Youth Retreat
By Helen Sare, Youth Work Magazine, Nov 2012 edition – 4/5
I’ve only ever planned one youth retreat and that was part of a wider Church weekend away, all I had to sort was three youth sessions, so it’s fair to say I’m somewhat of a novice. In picking up this book, the hope was by the end of it I would know all there is in planning one. I wasn’t expecting an exciting read, but it is an informative one.
Stephen and Shae Pepper address all the issues of planning a youth work retreat, covering everything from meetings, to budgeting and how to choose the right center. There are also free templates of all the things you may need, such as consent forms and risk assessments.
At times the book is a bit basic but mostly I found it included ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of. It works for youth workers in either the Christian or secular sector and nicely rounds off each chapter with action points.
It’s a helpful little book that does exactly what it says on the tin.
52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas
By L.G., New Zealand, Youth Workin’ It subscriber – 4/5
This book is well organised and has a variety of scavenger hunts, ranging from the internet to the alphabet.
I particularly liked the organisation – each scavenger hunt covers 2 pages; one page is about the preparation and the second page is for the participants. For those of us who experience the need for an instant activity, this book removes the stress of such a situation.
Although written for an American market (as can be seen in the Thanksgiving and License Plate scavenger hunt), it would be foolish to write this book off for those of us in other countries. Many of the ideas can easily be adapted and given a more local flavour. Even those who live in areas where malls aren’t plentiful or safety is an issue or youth do not have cell phones and so access to photos are limited, magazines and newspapers can be used to complete the scavenger hunt list.
This is a worthwhile book to have at your fingertips. For me the top scavenger hunt has to be Getting To Know You.
By Justin Ross, Amazon review, 5/5
Youth group scavenger hunts are so much fun. They are also not easy to plan. So if scavenger hunts are as popular in your youth ministry as they are in mine, this is a must have resource.
We tried the mall scavenger hunt and everyone had a blast! As we sat in the food court eating dinner and looking at everyone’s pictures after the hunt, it was really fun to see the one or two things each team could not locate – and they were all different. This made for great stories about where everyone should have went. I bought milkshakes for the winning team. It was a great, memorable, and inexpensive night.
Of the 52 scavenger hunts, 18-20 will be a good fit for our group. That is the advantage of so many choices, you are certain to find something perfect for your particular group.
Next I’ll be trying the road trip scavenger hunt while traveling to our winter retreat in a couple of months.
By mtalabi, Amazon review, 4/5
I got this book for our work with young people at The Salmon Youth Centre in Bermondsey and I was really impressed with just how thorough it is!
Finding new and exciting things for young people to do can be challenging at times but this book helps to make the job a lot easier with 52 varied scavenger hunt ideas.
We tried the “getting to know you” hunt (p31) in our 10-13s girls club and this went down a treat! It was a great way for the young people to get to know more about each other and also about staff – a really fun evening.
Next on our list is the newspaper hunt 🙂
By strkssinthesky, Amazon review, 5/5
This book has many great ideas that has kept our after-school program busy. Very thorough and you are easily able to photocopy each scavenger hunt to hand out to participants.
Would recommend for any youth program or for someone just looking to keep their family entertained.
You can pick up your own copy of these youth work resources from Amazon – How To Plan A Youth Retreat and 52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas.
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